A Journey to Freedom
Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and the Red Power Movement
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4154903 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Laurence M Hauptman (Emeritus, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 833-834 |
| Publication date | 2019-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaz654 |
| OpenAlex | W2994485847 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
During the first year of the Indian occupation of Alcatraz, which began in 1969, the media focused on Richard Oakes, a photogenic Akwesasne Mohawk who became the face of the occupation. In this biography, Kent Blansett, an assistant professor of history and Native American studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha, maintains that Oakes “remains at the heart of the monumental story of Native resistance and the modern fight for Native nations to reclaim their lands and freedom” (p. 11). The author fully describes Oakes growing up in Brooklyn. To Blansett's credit, he does not cover up Oakes's troubled past and transgressions. He effectively describes the family's employment in ironwork and how this employment has played a major role in Mohawk life. Equally impressive is Blansett's description of urban Indian life in San Francisco and Seattle in the 1960s. The author also provides new information about Oakes's role in protests at Pit River and at Fort Lawton as well as the circumstances surrounding his barroom beating in June 1970 and his death by gunshot in September 1972
Art history · Biography · Library science · Mohawk · Power (physics · American Environmental and Regional History · History · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2023 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |